Wooden Computer Case, advice needed.

[Cody Carse]

Hello all. I just wanted to show everyone my current project. It's something I've been wanting to do for a while and finally started to work on it. It's a wooden computer case. You can read all about it on my website. http://popflop.com/?page_id=8
As you can see it's made out of poplar. I need some advice on a few things. I'm looking to stain the wood dark. I tried some deft black walnut I had lying around and the color is close to what I'm looking for but it's a little on the green side and it really washes out almost all of the grain of the wood. Anyone have any ideas for finishing this case that will darken the poplar and let some of the grain show through? Also, if you look on the 3-D render I did before I started building it, you can see that I planned for some kind of inlay on the front.


I'm having a hard time visualizing how I'm going to do this. I know it can be done, probably with a template and my router but any help with that would be appreciated also as to suggestions on what I should use for the inlay and how I should inlay it. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say. If not, just tell me and I'll try to make myself clearer. Thanks a lot for any advice!

[cabinetman]

Cody

You're going to have a heck of a time to get some interesting grain to show on poplar especially if it's dark. Take some scrap and experiment with dyes, and oil stain. You may have to use a graining tool to get a lot of grain. You can create interesting patterns that way.

As for the inlay, the easiest way is to use a veneer of a different color, and fit it into a groove you routed with a flat bottom mortising bit. You may choose to stain the veneer befor inlaying.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[Cody Carse]

Thanks for the advice. I realize poplar is not the best for staining dark but it was cheap and this is my first major "flat" project and expected to waste some wood. As for the inlay, how do you think the veneer will bend or will I need to somehow cut it curved? I was thinking of maybe ripping some thin strips of maple and walnut and gluing them in a sandwich for the inlay. Do you think that would work? Thanks.

[cabinetman]

Cody

I'm attaching a page from Constantines catalog for inlay stripes. I don't know what the page will look like so I'll give you their site also;
http://www.constantines.com



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[Cody Carse]

Wow, that's a neat site. THanks for the info. I'm going to look around there and see if I can find something that looks narrow enough it will bend without too much trouble.

[vanguard]

Hey, Cody. It's looking great. I can't help you with the stain, but I do have a computer related question. Your project write-up indicates that you took your motherboard tray from an AT style case. The AT form factor is mostly obsolete and I'm pretty sure you can't even purchase new AT form motherboards. I don't know if this is a problem or not, but thought I'd ask.

Most newer systems use the ATX or micro-ATX form, and within the last year or two Intel has released the BTX specification.

You may of considered all of this, but if you haven't it looks like a good time to check on it as it looks like your at a stage where some slight changes are possible.

Good luck and please post more pictures as you go!

[Cody Carse]

Well, in actuality it is a dual at/atx case. The motherboard tray has holes for either.

[25]

Thats a nice case. Starts making me think I should make a case for my firewall instead of using this old monstorus fax server case I have it in now.

[dwolsten]

If I were you, I'd use something other than poplar. Personally I like Walnut a lot. Why try to stain poplar to look like something nicer when you can just use the nicer wood to begin with? If you buy short pieces from your lumber yard, woods like oak and walnut aren't that much more than poplar. Heck, at my lumberyard, purpleheart is only $3.50/bf for shorts, and poplar is about $3.

If cost is a concern, limit the expensive wood to just the front panel of the case, and use stained poplar for the rest.

[BobSch]

Here's a site that shows awood case project. Some helpful pics: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article237-page1.html

[Cody Carse]

I went ahead and updated my original post since it seems some people haven't realized that I have already started building this.